


come springtime

by sweetricebuns



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (oh my god they pine so much), Alternate Universe - Victorian, Epistolary, Fluff, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:47:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25552309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetricebuns/pseuds/sweetricebuns
Summary: Their correspondence begins in the summer. Helpless to it, they fall in love.
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20





	come springtime

**Author's Note:**

> my fill for the "historical/pirates/victorian au" prompt for adashi month 2020! was really excited for this one, though forgive me for any historical inaccuracies language-wise >_< also in this world period-typical homophobia doesn't exist because i said so <3
> 
> (unedited)
> 
> shiro's letters = _italic_  
>  adam's letters = regular font  
> letters never sent = ( ~~in parentheses and striked out~~ )

_**To Sir Adam Wali, July 10, 1837.** _

_Sir,—I write to you in the hope that you may be available to meet with me to schedule a fitting. My good friend Matt Holt, who I am told has been a customer of yours for years, recommended your good name when I expressed an interest in acquiring for myself a bespoke suit. He speaks of your skill and character with high esteem. Should you find yourself available within the next fortnight, I trust you shall let me know immediately._

_Respectfully yours,  
Takashi Shirogane_

*

**To Sir Takashi Shirogane, August 1, 1837.**

Kind sir,—It was a pleasure doing business with you. I fear I am being too presumptuous, but I feel I would be doing you a disservice if I did not tell you: you are a good man, perhaps the best man I have ever met. Thank you kindly. I do hope you think of me and my humble shop should you ever find yourself again in need.

Yours,  
Adam Wali

*

( _~~**To Sir Adam Wali, August 5, 1837.** ~~ _

_~~Dear sir,—Weeks have passed since my last visit, but I have yet to forget your eyes and your kind smile~~_ )

*

( _~~**To Sir Adam Wali, August 16, 1837.** ~~ _

_~~Dearest Adam,—Like a phantom, I feel the warmth of your hands on me in my sleep~~_ )

*

_**To Sir Adam Wali, September 3, 1837.** _

_Dear Sir Adam,—It gets colder by the day, and the trees on my estate grow steadily barren with every passing chill. I pray you are doing well._

_My brother and I may soon find ourselves in need of coats, and your hands are the only I trust to provide us the warmth we so need and desperately crave. Expect me._

_Yours truly,  
T. Shirogane_

*

**To Takashi Shirogane, October 8, 1837.**

Dear Takashi,—It has been three days since your departure, and I must admit that I miss the gift of your pleasant company. Without you here to brighten my days, I am consumed by the dreary monotony of the life of a tailor. Lance finds my predicament funny. I respond by making him tend to one of our less favored customers.

When you next find yourself in London, friend, tell me. I shall have a cup of tea waiting.

Ever your obedient servant,  
Adam Wali

*

( ~~9 Jan 1838~~

~~Takashi,—I am unable to hold this in any longer. My heart is impatient and will not be quieted until I have made you acquainted with its secret. I love you, I love you, I love you. My being sings with it. I wonder if you notice the way I cannot take my eyes off of you, how I struggle to breathe when I am in your presence, how my hands tremble with the need to touch you.~~

~~There is nothing I can do to make me worthy of a man with your goodness and station, but the pain of loving you cripples me. Love me, Takashi, I beg of you, if only for a moment, love me.~~ )

*

_**To Adam Wali, February 4, 1838.** _

_Adam,—I have bared my heart to you. You tell me that my affections are silly and misguided, that there are others for which my heart may beat, whose virtue may better suit mine, but Adam, sweet, good Adam, how can you not see that there is only you, and there will only ever be you?_

_You say these things as if they are truths, yet I see it pain you to do so. Must we ache, Adam? My feelings are returned, I know they are. I know not why you so insist on denying us both._

_Please do not keep me waiting._

_Yours,  
Takashi_

*

**To T. Shirogane, May 20, 1838.**

Dear Takashi: Keith is doing well, dare I say better than you ever could, but the life of a common working man does not suit him. He is more scholar than soldier, it seems, and you have spoiled him. It may interest you to know that the only time he ever takes his nose out of his books is when Lance is involved.

Silly boys, they tell me I am wistful. They bring me tea and make me laugh most likely in attempt to stop me from wallowing in my miserable pining, but how do I tell them that there can be no other cure for my waiting, lonely heart other than you?

Forgive me. I do not wish to talk of sad things. Tell me, how are things at Pemberley? Are the flowers blooming? With the onset of Summer I cannot imagine how busy you must be.

Wholly yours,  
Adam

*

_My love,_

_I regret that I was never taught the ways of song, for if I was, I would have already composed thousands of odes to you. There are poems waiting to be written about the way candlelight flickers across your skin, the sweet cadence of your laughter. If I were a writer, I would write tales inspired by the power of your sweet kisses. Perhaps not, for every time you kiss me, I am drunk with it and beyond all comprehensible thought._

_Pardon my musings. Only, what else have I to do, when you lie in my bed looking as beautiful as the day we first met?_

_The space beside you beckons me, and I find myself caught between answering its call and simply marvelling at you. I have travelled far and seen great works of art, yet no worldly sight can ever hope to compare to the sight of you. There are stories of a face that had once launched a thousand ships into war, and if there is any truth at all to it, then I am most certain that the face must have been in your exact image._

_The sun is rising, and the estate comes to life with it. Oh, Adam, my happiness, my light, my sweet lover, you make the dawn worth waiting for. When you wake, come find me in my study. I shall hold you, and tell you of all eternity has in store for us._

_T.S._

*

**To T. Shirogane, September 27, 1838.**

My Takashi: These days, I cannot help but drown in pins and fabric. Lance and Keith, oh! those rascals, they spend their days gallivanting together, doing whatever it is they get up to, leaving me by my lonesome in the shop. I have not the heart to tell them off. I can hear your laughter at my behest, dearest, and I ask that you refrain. My only comfort is that they both come home happier than when they left.

Home. I have thought of nothing but the notion of home since you asked forever of me. You wrote to me, once, after that fateful Winter night: Must we ache? The answer is no.

At the turn of the season, come see me, my love. And when you leave, I will be with you, and it will be forever.

Unchanging in my affections,  
Adam

*

_**To A. Wali, November 13, 1838.** _

_Sweetheart,—Winter shall fall upon us in a moment. Will you accept your lover’s excitement? I lay all mistakes borne of my eagerness at your feet. There is no remedy for my clumsy, only your presence and the soothing press of your lips._

_I will see you soon. Pour a cup of tea for me?_

_Affectionately yours,  
Takashi_

*

**To Takashi Shirogane, March 3, 1839.**

Dearest Takashi: How were there ever days when we were apart from each other? I had thought us done with the worst of it, but now, lying in our bed while you are off on business, I have never known such hell. I fear you have taken my heart with you. Care for it, love.

Nights are cold without you here. The normally bright halls of Pemberley dim, and the flowers wilt in your absence. Would you think me silly if I told you that we all miss you? Life usually thrums beneath the walls of Pemberley. Now, it is silent. I know it longs for you, just as I do. 

I have never known love like this, Takashi. It consumes me, devours me whole until there is nothing left of me. It terrifies me.

Of course I know that your journey is a matter of necessity, but that does not help my loneliness. I have one injunction to lay upon you, and I charge you by your love, to obey it. Return to me, safe and sound. Come home to me.

Faithfully,  
Adam

*

_**To A. Wali, March 6, 1839.** _

_Angel—I think I shall call you my angel. Would that please you, my light? You might deign to pretend to hate it, but we both know the truth._

_Do you know of my devotion to you, my angel? How I breathe with it? I can do nothing but think of you all day and dream of you all night. I miss you so dearly it feels like I am without a limb, like I am at sea drowning with no savior in sight. In a perfect world, I am with you always, and we would spend our days in leisure under the shade of trees, without a thought spared to the rest of the world._

_As I read your letter, I feel myself miss you so much I could explode with it. I am as fraught with terror as you are, but if that is the price to pay to love you with all that I am, then so be it._

_Business be damned. I shall depart tomorrow, at first light._

_Yours in total devotion,  
Takashi_

*

Forever, we said. Meet me in the garden? 

**Author's Note:**

> phew! i stole the lines [Of course I know that your journey is a matter of necessity, but that does not help my loneliness. I have one injunction to lay upon you, and I charge you by your love, to obey it.](http://susannaives.com/wordpress/tag/victorian-love-letters/) and ["My heart is impatient and will not be quieted until I have made you acquainted with its secret."](http://susannaives.com/wordpress/2012/03/more-victorian-love-letters-and-the-basics-of-postage-stamp-flirtation/) from actual victorian love letters. please, read them, and squeal with me. also, if you picked up on the very tiny pride & prejudice reference, <33333
> 
> i am in love with this AU! i likely won't expand this verse, but i will most definitely be talking about them on my [twitter](https://twitter.com/atiastic/) at some point <3__<3
> 
> [talk to me on tumblr!](https://laurentism.tumblr.com/)


End file.
